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True love never runs smooth. Nor does a Rugby World Cup campaign.
Gene Pitney’s hit song from the 1960s has been bouncing around in my head ever since the early hours of Monday morning.
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So many incidents have been flooding into my brain that prove the course to a Rugby World Cup final is filled with obstacles and unexpected troubles.
The Wallabies had achieved their initial, ridiculously tough goal of finishing on top of the ‘pool of death’ and claiming the ‘easy’ route to the final.
That meant facing Scotland in the quarter-finals, and I will put my hand up and say that I thought it would be a formality. I am sure that many fans were feeling the same way.
The Wallabies in the first half were below the high standards they had set through their pool games. Is there a chance that they had subconsciously relaxed a little?
We’ll never know, but we do know that Scotland gave us one big shock and went very close to sending Michael Cheika’s men home.
Their task this weekend against Argentina is a tough one. The Argentinians have been the quiet achievers of this World Cup, as they had been when they made the semi-finals of the 2007 tournament.
In contrast to Australia’s stumbling start to the match against Scotland, Argentina started with an all-out attacking assault against Ireland that could well have proved the difference between the two teams despite Ireland’s brave effort in getting themselves back into the match.
Australia will need to be ready for that, as well as yet another tough battle up front. Can the Wallabies scrum coach, Mario Ledesma, outsmart his countrymen and give the Wallabies the inspiration to dominate the set pieces?
Talking of scrums, how good was Scotland’s tight-head prop, the former South African, WP Nel? For years, former Wallaby Jake Howard told me that tight-head prop was the most important position on the rugby field. Every now and then I see what he means and Nel gave a display of pure strength to enforce his argument.
What a sense of déjà vu when Mark Bennett raced across for his intercept try in the 73rd minute! I am sure that I was one of millions whose mind instantly went back to Lansdowne Road in 1991.
Ireland scored a converted try with only five minutes to go in the 1991 match to take a three-point lead and all seemed lost for the Wallabies, as it did with Bennett’s try for Scotland.
But a calm stand-in skipper, Michael Lynagh, kept his cool and the Australians worked their way back downfield for Lynagh himself to score the winning try with moments left.
Of course that team went on to be the first Wallabies side to win the World Cup. Yet it almost slipped away in that dramatic finish in Dublin.
Eight years later, as Australia prepared to play Ireland in a pool match at the same ground in the 1999 World Cup, Lynagh was being interviewed before the match on the spot where he scored that try.
In the match that followed, Totai Kefu became involved in a punch-up with Trevor Brennan and was subsequently suspended, robbing the Australians of his presence for the key quarter-final against Wales.
He returned for the semi-final against South Africa at Twickenham, where a brave effort by the Australian forward pack saw the Wallabies match the Springboks up front.
With minutes left, they looked like they would advance to the final, however a late penalty saw Jannie de Beer level the scores and force extra time.
And what a dramatic extra time it was, highlighted by Stephen Larkham’s extraordinary field goal from 48 metres out to get the Wallabies into the final, where they claimed their second Webb Ellis trophy.
And that’s just the rocky road to the World Cup finals that the Wallabies have won! Other World Cups have shown just how tough it can be to get there and win, none more so than England’s dramatic 2003 win in extra time.
If they had forgotten, Scotland gave the Wallabies the perfect reminder that there is absolutely no easy road to the World Cup final.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.